Tag Archives: creative tools

Virtual Heritage Models: in Search of Meaningful Infrastructure

Book, infrastructure, virtual heritage, , , ,

Above is title of book chapter being revised/reviewed for Ashgate’s Cultural Heritage Creative Tools and Archives (edited book).

At 7,799 words I hope I am not asked to revise upwards!

Alternative title: Preserving the Heritage Component of Virtual Heritage

Abstract:
Teaching virtual heritage through the careful inspection, contextualization and modification of 3D digital heritage models is still problematic. Models are hard to find, impossible to download and edit, in unusual, unwieldy or obsolete formats, and many are standalone 3D meshes with no accompanying metadata or information on how the data was acquired, how the models can be shared (and if they can be edited), and how accurate the scanning or modeling process was, or the scholarly documents, field reports, photographs and site plans that allowed the designers to extract enough information for their models. Where there are suitable models in standard formats that are available from repositories, such as in Europeana library portal, they are encased in PDF format and cannot be extended, altered or otherwise removed from the PDF. Part of the problem has been with the development of virtual heritage; part of the problem has been with a lack of necessary infrastructure. In this chapter I will suggest another way of looking at virtual heritage, and I will promote the concept of a scholarly ecosystem for virtual heritage where both the media assets involved and the communities (of scholars, shareholders and the general public) are all active participants in the development of digital heritage that is a part of living heritage.

—About 7000 words later —

Conclusion: A New Virtual Heritage Infrastructure

I hope I have been clear about three major points. I have argued that virtual heritage will not successful as digital heritage if it cannot even preserve its own models and it will not be effective if it cannot implement digital technologies great advantages: real-time reconfiguration to suit the learner, device and task at hand; individual personalization; increased sense of agency; automatic tracking and evaluation mechanisms; and filtered community feedback. My suggestion is to implement not so much a single file format but to agree upon a shared relationship between assets. For want of a better word, I have described the overall relationship of components of virtual heritage infrastructure as a scholarly ecosystem.

Secondly, in this new age of digital communication the 3D model must be recognized as a key scholarly resource (Di Benedetto et al., 2014). As a core part of a scholarly ecosystem the model should be traceable, it should link to previous works and to related scholarly information. I suggest that the model should be component-based so that parts can be directly linked and updated. Web models would be dynamically created at runtime. The model should be engaging so extensive playtesting and evaluation is required to ensure it actually does engage its intended audience. As part of a scholarly infrastructure, the 3D model format (and all related data formats) should be easy to find and reliable. It should not require huge files to download or it should at least provide users with enough information to decide whether and what to download. Metadata can also help record the completeness, measurement methodology and accuracy of the models and Linked Open Data can help connect these media assets in a sensible and useful way.

Thirdly, the community of scholars, students and the wider public should be involved and we must endeavour to meaningfully incorporate their understanding, feedback and participation, this is a core requirement of UNESCO World Heritage status. Community involvement is a must for scholars as well and so I suggest that the virtual heritage projects dynamically link to journals and refereed conference papers and to the list of tools and methods that were used in the project. A robust feedback system could help continually improve the system. Other shareholder issues such as varying levels of learning skills, and varying levels of knowledge required or cultural knowledge that needs to be hidden (privacy and ownership issues) should also be incorporated into the project.

CFP: Cultural Heritage, Creative Tools and Archives Workshop

Academic, Announcements, Conference, Digital Humanities, game, virtual heritage, , , , , , ,

DIGHUMLAB DK and the DIGITAL CURATION UNIT Athens are pleased to invite you to submit to a 2 day workshop on CULTURAL HERITAGE, CREATIVE TOOLS AND ARCHIVES.

The workshop is open to all but we in particular welcome participants drawn in the first instance from the DARIAH, ARIADNE, CENDARI, NeDiMAH and other EU cultural heritage networks. We envisage it will foster the growth of a community of practice in the field of digital heritage and digital humanities, leading to closer cooperation between participants and helping attendees develop tools and methods that can be used by the wider community.

Workshop themes

Cultural heritage, for the purposes of this workshop, is taken to consist of a broad spectrum of fields of scholarly research and professional practice relating to the study, management and use of the past, including but not limited to: archaeology, material culture studies, public history, intangible heritage, the visual and performing arts, visual culture, museums, and historical archives. We invite presentations of digital heritage tools and infrastructures, established projects and case-studies, state-of the art surveys, and original research contributions on the following themes:

· Cultural heritage information systems, ontologies and knowledge representation for material and visual culture.

· Data analysis, modeling, simulation, and visualization.

· Metadata, interoperability and integration of research data and scholarly resources.

· GIS, 3D graphic reconstruction and high end imaging.

· Digital preservation and curation of cultural heritage data, archives and documentation resources.

· Digital technology in fieldwork (e.g., archaeological data collecting and representation, excavation and survey data management, recording information “at the trowel’s edge”, processing survey and long series datasets, etc.).

· Digital scholarly publishing and public communication of cultural heritage.

· Sharing data and tools across European countries and partners.

· EU policy in digital heritage infrastructures, research, and cultural resource management.

· Any other topic relevant to the innovative application of digital technology to cultural heritage research, management and communication.

Presentation formats

· Project presentation: 20 minutes.

· Demonstration (of a tool, method, or project): 20 minutes.

· Paper presentation: 20 minutes plus 10 minutes of discussion time. Final papers accepted may be published in a journal (to be advised).

· Panel: 40-60 minutes involving 3-5 speakers.

Submission Information

· Format: At the top of the page include your name, your country, your institutional affiliation, your EU infrastructure/project affiliation (if applicable), the title of your paper, and the suggested format of your paper (project presentation, paper presentation, demonstration, or panel presentation). An AV projector will be provided but please indicate any other requirements.

· Submit: Emailyour proposal in RTF format to dighumlab@gmail.com with the title “Cultural Heritage Workshop”. If you wish to present a formal paper, you should submit an abstract of 500-1500 words, including references. For a project presentation, demonstration or panel you should submit a proposal of 300-500 words. If you wish to present on a panel, please indicate the names and affiliations of other participants (if known) on the submission document.

· Submission date: NEW EXTENDED DATE 1 May 2013, 17:00 Central European Time

Other information:

· Notification date: Wednesday, 24 April 2013 (may change).

· Date of Workshop: Wednesday, 26 and Thursday 27 June 2013.

· Cost of Workshop: free tea and coffee will be provided; we will try to find sponsorship for lunch for both days.

· Venue: National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.

· For more information please contact: Dr Erik Champion, DIGHUMLAB Denmark, echa@adm.au.dk
Co-organisers: Associate Professor Costis Dallas, University of Toronto & Digital Curation Unit, Athens; Dr Agiatis Benardou, Digital Curation Unit, Athens; and Professor Panos Constantopoulos, Athens University of Economics and Business.

We would like to thank the ALLC: The European Association for Digital Humanities for co-funding and the National Museum of Denmark for hosting the workshop. This is a DARIAH associated event. Other associations with organizations are still to be confirmed.